FIFA-fraudster Salguero faced 20 years in US prison but gets just 7-year ban from Zurich

14th March 2019

March 14 – Former Guatemala football chief and one-time FIFA executive committee member Rafael Salguero, who avoided a jail term for his role in the FifaGate corruption scandal, has been banned by FIFA for seven years.

FIFA says its ethics judges took Salguero’s cooperation into account when issuing the sanction for bribery, a charge that can lead to a life ban.

Salguero, who was a FIFA executive committee member for eight years until 2015, was also found guilty of “illegal reselling” of World Cup tickets. FIFA also fined him 100,000 Swiss francs.

Three months ago, Salguero was sentenced in the United States to time served, releasing him from house arrest, having pleaded guilty in October 2016 to criminal conspiracy, two counts of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and conspiracy to launder money.

He had faced a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each count but because he had co-operated with US authorities received a reduced term.